Gazan teen dies from gas canister injury

Gaza (QNN) – Hasan Nabil Nofal, 16-year-old, died on Tuesday from wounds sustained during the Great March of Return protests along Gaza’s east border last week, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said in a statement.

Nofal was struck in the head by an IOF-fired tear gas canister east of Bureij in the central Gaza Strip on 8 February. He is the third child to die after being injured during Great March of Return protests on the same day.

The other two children killed were Hamza Muhammad Rushdi Ishtaiwi, 17, and Hasan Iyad Abd al-Fattah Shalabi, 13.

More than 220 Palestinians have been killed and over 23,000 others injured by Israeli forces since the outbreak of the Great March of Return protests at Gaza border on March 30, 2018.

Most of the casualties occurred on 14 May 2018 when Israeli forces attacked Palestinian protesters marking the 70th anniversary of Israel’s occupation of historical Palestine and the ensuing ethnic cleansing of half a million Palestinian refugees.

Further, five Palestinian children have died after being struck by tear gas canisters since the start of 2018, according to Defense for Children International Palestine.

“Tear gas canisters can become deadly weapons when they are fired and strike a child’s torso or head,” Ayed Abu Eqtaish of Defense for Children International Palestine stated.